Pharmaken Ltd

There have been recent reports of chikungunya in Mombasa.So far as at Jan 8th, the county government had confirmed 32 cases of Chikungunya fever out of 120 suspected cases. Here’s what you need to know about the Chikungunya virus;

It’s transmitted via one particular species of mosquito.

Humans contract the virus through mosquito bites, according to the World Health Organization. The Aedes species of mosquito, particularly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, transmits the virus.

Onset of symptoms usually starts three to seven days after the mosquito bite.

The symptoms can include headache, joint swelling, rash and muscle pain, with fever and joint pain being the most common symptoms,

The virus lasts five to seven days in most humans.
During this time period, mosquitoes who bite an infected person can then become infected with the virus, according to the World Health Organization.

There have been recent reports of chikungunya in Mombasa.So far as at Jan 8th, the county government had confirmed 32 cases of Chikungunya fever out of 120 suspected cases. Here’s what you need to know about the Chikungunya virus;

It’s transmitted via one particular species of mosquito.

Humans contract the virus through mosquito bites, according to the World Health Organization. The Aedes species of mosquito, particularly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, transmits the virus.

Onset of symptoms usually starts three to seven days after the mosquito bite.

The symptoms can include headache, joint swelling, rash and muscle pain, with fever and joint pain being the most common symptoms,

The virus lasts five to seven days in most humans.
During this time period, mosquitoes who bite an infected person can then become infected with the virus, according to the World Health Organization.

There is no treatment or cure.
The best thing patients can do is rest, drink fluids and take pain-relieving and fever-reducing medicine like ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

Most patients fully recover.
The disease does not usually kill. Most people will feel better within a week, though some are never relieved of the debilitating joint pain.

The best way to protect yourself from chikungunya is to protect yourself against mosquitoes.Take measures such as wearing long sleeves to protect your skin from bites and using insect repellent. And make sure to call a medical professional if you develop any symptoms consistent with chikungunya.

Female Aedes aegypti chiefly lay their eggs in artificial containers with vertical walls and a bit of standing water. They find the perfect incubators in those flower pots, tires, buckets, planters, toys, birdbaths, empty garbage cans and lids in our yards and on our decks. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae drop down into the water, where they mature into adult mosquitoes. This is why it’s so important to check your house, yard and neighborhood weekly for these kinds of containers. Empty and scrub them. Turn them over, cover them, dry them out or throw them out.

We continue to differentiate ourselves in the Pharmaceutical industry by constantly employing innovation in our working space translating into continued improvement of efficiency and quality levels.

Pharmaken Ltd intends to continue to respond to challenges in the market and continue to build a closer relationship with HCPs, Pharmacies, hospitals and their suppliers to help them to sustain their business model.

It was with great shock that we received the news of the sad and untimely death of Annette Njuguna, our Infection Control specialist. She was known to many as Chichi. We will always remember her as a warm, friendly and hardworking individual.

On behalf of the entire Pharmaken community and myself included, I would like to take this opportunity to convey my heartfelt condolences to her entire bereaved family relatives, friends and colleagues of the late Annette.

Annette left an indelible print in the hearts of many who worked alongside her. Her charm and smile were infectious and her dedication to her job second to none. We mourn her deeply today and will always keep her in our prayers.

Breastfeeding, also referred to as nursing is the process of giving milk to your baby directly from your breasts. Breastfeeding is widely recommended by Gynaecologists and Paediatricians worldwide but at the end of the day it remains a personal choice. Breast milk is the ideal form of sustenance for the baby coz it has the perfect blend of nutrients that is just right for the baby and its all provided in a form that is more easily digestible than infant formula.

The mother should try as much as possible to breastfeed her baby within the first hour of the baby’s life. Latching on may be difficult at first, but with patience and practice, the mother will be an expert in no time! Make it clear to your hospital that you want to exclusively breastfeed your baby and the nursing staff will assist you in achieving this.

Baby should be exclusively breastfed for at least 6 months, this means no water, supplements or any other source of milk and they should be fed on demand, whenever they are hungry.

The size of your breasts has absolutely nothing to do with your capability to produce milk. Women with small breasts have the same ability to produce milk as large breasted women. Even flat-chested women can breastfeed and babies find it easier to latch on to smaller breasts than larger breasts. So there you have it, having small breasts doesn’t mean you cannot breastfeed!

An exclusively breastfed baby’s poop doesn’t smell as bad as formula-fed baby. It is sweet smelling, happens frequently and is seedy in appearance.

More and more mothers are resorting to exclusively breastfeed their babies rather than give formula.

To commemorate World Breastfeeding week, Dr. Hanan was invited by the County nutritionist to attend a function at Aga Khan Hospital Mombasa to talk about her breastfeeding experience to nursing mothers, as a first time mother. Here is her testimony which she shared with others:

My name is Hanan Omar, I am a first time mother to a baby boy. He will turn 6 months on 14th of September. I delivered normally and I remember the nurses bringing the baby to my room, it was so surreal. I looked at him and I was speechless God blessed me with this beautiful baby boy. We shared our quiet moments then he started wailing! All those around me looked at me, almost telling me indirectly pick the baby and nurse him. And that’s exactly what I did. It was amazing. The baby knew exactly what to do, he nursed and I felt at peace. Then came the question, are you exclusively breastfeeding? That meant nursing your baby only! No water, no powdered milk, no porridge. And I confidently said yes, I understood the benefits of breastfeeding , my sister did it with all her 3 babies, she was my role model. And I wanted the same for my baby, not only to copy what she did, but I literally saw the benefits, zero hospitalizations, save money not only on buying formula, but also on menstrual supplies, the baby is very portable, you can feed him anywhere, no time is wasted in mixing, and measuring, and the babies had a special bond with their mother.

I stayed home on my maternity leave for 3 months. On the 2nd month, I recall my sister in law calling asking me when I’ll be resuming work, she also asked me whether I had started expressing and storing the milk. I was very confident in myself that I would manage. I kept on postponing it. However, she really insisted on expressing my milk. So I decided, let me just do it! To my surprise I only got 3 drops on milk. I was in utter shock! I called her she said just keep on doing it everyday, early in the morning, when the baby is asleep and at 11am or even at night. I finally did it. I managed to express enough milk and store it until I resumed work. It wasn’t easy, I had to eat nutritious foods, take oats porridge, drink a lot of water and take my supplements, Protoken. Expressing milk has also given me the best of both worlds, I get to go back to work and still ensure my baby is only on breastmilk!

I am so happy and I have peace in my mind that through all this sheer hard work is a success, my baby is getting the best both in nutrition and immunity!

Today we celebrated Calvin Korir as the medical representative of the month of July having attained a 100% target achievement in all his assigned products. Here he is, receiving a token of appreciation. We look forward to more staff members achieving their targets. Korir, on behalf of the Pharmaken management, I would like to extend our appreciation for the amazing work done by you translating to targets achieved. The time that you have spent working on achieving this target, and the professionalism that you have shown has impressed the entire team immensely. Your diligence, self-motivation as well as dedication have been a source of inspiration for the rest of the team. Korir takes over this mantle from Peter Gachie who has been holding forte for the past seven months.

We are very excited to share Pharmaken’s very first blogpost. Hopefully it will be the first of many. Please leave your comments below what you think and if there are ways in which we can improve the blog. Any relevant article contributions from specialists, doctors are indeed most welcome.